East Kent Services (EKS) partners Canterbury City Council, Dover District Council and Thanet District Council have launched a new partnership with Civica to operate shared front-facing citizen and business services for the three councils and save up to £5.3m.

The seven-year agreement, which includes the transfer of more than 230 employees to Civica, will protect vital services dealing with the collection, administration and enforcement of council tax and business rates, payment and administering of housing benefit, council tax support and dealing with queries from customers for the three councils.

The East Kent Services Committee hope the benefits of the deal will include:

A potential new income for the three councils, as Civica expands and creates a hub in the south east to take on work from other public sector organisations

More jobs in east Kent because of that expansion

The opportunity to make more improvements to the service currently being offered to council customers in east Kent

Dominic Whelan, Director of Shared Services at East Kent Services (EKS) said: “We are extremely proud of the fact the team at EKS has saved the three councils more than £6m since it was created in 2011. But the financial challenges in the public sector continue to come thick and fast.

“Without this partnership, the three councils would have needed to invest £2m extra in EKS over the next seven years in order to maintain the level of service we currently provide. Or they could have cut services and lost around 70 highly-skilled jobs.

“By taking this path, the three councils have protected the jobs and terms and conditions of EKS staff and it is highly likely they will benefit from Civica’s expansion in the south east at a time when every penny counts as councils fight to balance their budgets and maintain services.”